Petrobras board greenlights new CEO appointment

The board of directors at Petrobras, Brazil’s state-controlled oil and gas major, has approved the nomination of Caio Paes de Andrade to become the company’s new chief executive officer. The Brazilian government had announced on May 23 its intention to name Mr. Andrade to the position.

According to Petrobras, Mr. Andrade will not need to have his name approved in a shareholders’ meeting. This is because former CEO José Mauro Coelho resigned last week, leaving a vacancy at the helm of the company, and it is therefore up to the board, on which the government controls six of 11 seats, to greenlight the new appointment.

The markets reacted positively to the news, and Petrobras share prices were up by nearly 6 percent on Monday.

Petrobras workers who own shares of the company do not like the nomination and have filed a complaint with the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM). They say Mr. Andrade fails to meet the standards set by the 2016 legal framework on state-controlled companies.

In the wake of massive corruption scandals, Congress passed legislation aimed at shielding state-controlled companies from political interference. One of its provisions requires that executive positions be filled by people with at least 10 years of experience in the same sector as the company — or in a related area. 

Mr. Andrade, who currently serves as the government’s De-bureaucratization Secretary, has no bonafide experience in the oil...